Dunlop riders celebrate a Summer of road racing wins

• Dunlop technology has helped riders to 15 road racing victories in 2019
• Peter Hickman set Ulster GP 100% win rate
• Lee Johnston’s home victory in the North West 200
• Derek Sheils wins Irish Road Racing title.     

Dunlop has had an incredible summer of road racing. The Isle of Man TT, Ulster Grand Prix and North West 200 have hosted some stunning top-level motorcycle racing in which Dunlop riders have been on the top step of the podium a staggering 15 times so far in 2019.

Dunlop’s continuous tyre development and proven success in road racing have contributed to the tyre manufacturer being used for 18 current single rider lap and race records.

North West 200

Held on an 8.9-mile road course between the towns of Portstewart, Coleraine and Portrush in Causeway Coast and Glens, the North West 200 is one of the fastest races in the world with riders hitting speeds of 200mph.

Dunlop rider Lee Johnston began the North West 200 with a brilliant home victory in the SuperSport race, while multiple road racing winner Peter Hickman took victory in the Superstock race.

Isle of Man TT

As a road racing flagship event, the TT has been the centre of Dunlop’s success in the 2019 season with nearly three-quarters of the race-winning riders at the 2019 TT using Dunlop tyres.

Peter Hickman translated Dunlop’s tyre technology to the road by taking victory in the Superstock, Supersport and Superbike TT races, while Lee Johnston took his maiden Isle of Man TT victory in the Supersport race and Michael Rutter secured the all-electric TT zero race cementing Dunlop’s dominance in the electric class. This continued development means Dunlop was the most successful tyre supplier at the 2019 Isle of Man TT.

Ulster Grand Prix

Dunlop’s success continued at the Ulster Grand Prix with Hickman recording an unprecedented seven wins from seven starts.

The Burton upon Trent born rider translated his race victories into outright pace by setting a new outright lap record of 136.415mph on-board his Smith’s S1000RR BMW bike around the 7.3 mile Dundrod circuit. The new record was 2.6 seconds faster than the old mark and almost 1 mph quicker than his TT record of 135.452mph. This re-established the Ulster circuit as the ‘fastest road racing track in the world’ in a long-running battle with the TT track.

To cap an epic Summer of success, Derek Sheils won the Irish Road Racing Superbike Championship after taking a double win at the Munster 100 Road Races ahead of the Ulster GP.

Pat Walsh, Dunlop’s Road Racing expert, stated: “We’ve had a brilliant Summer so far thanks to the close co-operation of teams and riders helping us develop the best tyres for the roads. We now turn our attention to the Manx GP, Classic TT and helping our loyal partners prepare for the traditional Macau GP road-racing season closer in November.”

Dunlop’s tyre range has been designed to suit the demands of high-speed road racing tracks to give riders the confidence to push to over 200mph. The KR range of slicks was used in the Superbike races, but in the Superstock classes riders were able to utilise Dunlop’s D213 GP Pro tyre that has been specially designed to provide the ultimate treaded tyre performance on everyday road surfaces similar to the three iconic road racing circuits.

The D213 GP Pro tyre has been developed to provide riders with confidence at high speed and control under heavy braking. Its dramatic cutting-edge fin-shaped pattern ensures faster warm-up times, allowing the riders to push from the word go. The tyre has become a firm favourite with serious track day riders, topping a Dunlop hypersport range that also includes the GP Racer D212 for regular track day use and the SportSmart TT for 50/50 road and track use.

The next road racing event is the Manx GP and Classic TT on August 17th-30th.